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Factors Influencing the Purchase of Agricultural Tractors: An Empirical Study

Article · January 2014

DOI: 10.9790/487X-16134246

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IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM)
e-ISSN: 2278-487X, p-ISSN: 2319-7668. Volume 16, Issue 1. Ver. III (Jan. 2014), PP 42-46
www.iosrjournals.org

Factors Influencing the Purchase of Agricultural Tractors: An

Empirical Study
1
Dr. V. Sivakumar, 2Dr. S. Kaliyamoorthy,
1
Assistant Professor Alagappa Institute of Management Alagappa University KARAIKUDI
Tamilnadu, INDIA
2
Professor & Director Alagappa Institute of Management Alagappa University KARAIKUDI
Tamilnadu, INDIA

Abstract: Consumers make purchase decisions in each and every aspect of their life. Thus studying consumer
behaviour becomes more vital. All marketing decisions & activities are based on assumptions about consumer
behavior. The following objectives were framed for the paper, to study the factors influencing the purchase of
agricultural tractors and to evaluate the most important factors like brand name, subsidy, horsepower,
maintenance etc considered for the purchase of agricultural tractors. The study was carried out in Sivaganga
district of Tamilnadu state. Descriptive research design has been used in this study. The researcher has used
both primary and secondary data for this research. The researcher has collected primary data from the tractor
owners who had bought their tractor for service to the dealer point during the study period in sivaganga
district. Factor analysis was used to find out the most influencing factors considered by the respondents while
making the purchase decision of tractor. It is found as per the ranking given by the respondents subsidy is
ranked first and followed by sources consulted, horse power, after sales service, price and brand name
respectively are considered for purchase of tractors.
Key Words: Agricultural Equipments, Tractors, Consumer Behavior, Factor Analysis, Branding, Marketing
and Production of Equipments etc.

I. Introduction About The Study:

Consumers make purchase decisions in each and every aspect of their life. Thus studying consumer
behaviour becomes more vital. All marketing decisions & activities are based on assumptions about consumer
behavior. Consumer behaviour deals with the behaviour that consumer displays in the consumption of goods
right from purchasing, using, evaluating & disposing them. In other way, it deals with what they buy, how often
they use it when they by it, why they buy it where they buy and how they evaluate it after purchase.
Understanding the consumer purchase process is critical to a marketer so as to design the marketing activities
effectively.
Each step in the consumer decision making process is highly influenced by both internal and external
factors. The internal factors include the individual's own motivation personality, perception, learning attitude
and his own past experience in addition to the internal influencing factors, the external factors like the
company's marketing efforts, ideas/opinions of friends, relations, family members and reference group members
also have profound impact on the purchase decision of individuals.

II. Consumer Behaviour

The study of consumer is the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available
resources (time, money, effort) on consumption - related items. It includes the study of what they buy, why they
buy it, when they buy it, where they buy it and how often they use it, how they evaluate after the purchase and
the impact of such evaluations on future purchases and how they dispose of it. Consumer behaviour is
concerned with the study of factors that influence people‟s behaviour in a buying situation. Marketers can make
better marketing decisions only when they know why and how individuals make their consumption decisions.

III. Buying Decision Process

Consumers engage in a decision process to deal with the marketing environment and make purchases.
The consumer goes through a series of logical stages to arrive at a decision when he faces a problem that could
be resolved through a purchase. A typical buying process consists of the following five stages:

IV. Problem Recognition

The buying process starts where the buyer recognizes a problem or need. The need may be triggered by
internal or external stimuli. Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need.

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 Factors Influencing the Purchase of Agricultural Tractors: An Empirical Study

V. Information Search
An aroused consumer will be inclined to search for more information. Consumer information sources
fall into four groups: Personal Sources: Family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances. Commercial Sources:
Advertising, salespersons, dealers, packaging, displays. Public Sources: Mass media, Consumer -rating
organization. Experimental Sources: Handling, Examining, using the product.

VI. Evaluation Of Alternatives

There is no single evaluation process used by all consumers or by one consumer in all buying
situations.

VII. Purchase Decision

In executing a purchase intention, the consumer may make up to five purchase sub decisions: a brand
decision, vendor decision, quantity decision, timing decision and payment method decision.

VIII. Post Purchase Behaviour

After purchasing the product the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
The marketer‟s job does not end when the product is bought. Marketers must monitor post purchase satisfaction,
post purchase actions and post purchase product uses too.
The above said consumer decision making process is influenced by many factors like personal,
psychological, social, economic and marketing factors.

IX. Objectives Of The Study

The following objectives were framed for the paper:
 To study the factors influencing the purchase of agricultural tractors.
 To evaluate the most important factors like brand name, subsidy, horsepower, maintenance etc
considered for the purchase of agricultural tractors.

X. Limitations Of The Study
Like any other social research, this research also has the following inherent limitations:
1. This study is restricted to Sivaganga district only.
2. This study is confined only to the agricultural tractor owners alone. They may not be generalized to
other type of tractor consumers.

XI. Research Methodology

Research Design
Descriptive research design has been used in this study. The objective of a descriptive study is to answer the
„who, what, where and how‟ of the subject under investigation.

XII. Type Of Data Collected

The researcher has used both primary and secondary data for his research. The researcher has collected
primary data from the tractor owners who had brought their tractor for service to the dealer point during the
study period in Sivaganga district.

XIII. Methods Of Data Collection

For the descriptive type of researches, the best - suited research approach is survey method. The researcher has
used interview schedule for the purpose of collecting primary data from the farm tractor owners for the study.
XIV. Sampling Unit
The researcher has chosen the tractor consumers belonging to sivaganga district as the sample unit.

XV. Sample Size

The sample size for the study is determined as 90.

XVI. Sample Methodology:

The sampling method used by the researcher in this study is non-probability sampling and the method
used is convenient sampling method. This method has been chosen because the respondents belong to farming
community and they should be willing to spend sometime to collect data.

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 Factors Influencing the Purchase of Agricultural Tractors: An Empirical Study

XVII. Analysis And Interpretation

Table – 1 Ranking of factors considered for buying tractor by the respondents
Total
Factor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Avg Source Rank
source
Price 09 19 21 08 04 - 29 335 3.95 7
Subsidy 53 24 12 1 - - - 576 6.4 1
Brand Name 37 31 17 5 - - - 550 6.11 2
HP 29 41 15 5 - - - 549 6.10 3
Maintenance 21 20 36 5 4 3 1 486 5.4 4
ASS 13 19 23 31 3 1 - 455 5.05 5
RSV 07 11 16 21 33 2 - 382 4.24 6
Source : Primary Data

Interpretation
From the above table it is very clear that subsidy factor is ranked as first in influencing the purchase of
tractor, followed by brand name, horsepower of tractor, Maintenance, after sales service, resale value and price
respectively.

Factor Analysis
The objective of factor analysis is to summarise a large number of variables into a small number of
synthetic variable. Extraction method used is principal computer analysis, rotation method varimax with karsir
normalization and rotation concluded in 14 iterations. The following is the table showing the variables and their
description.

Table 2.1 variables and their description

Variable Communality Description of variables
VAR 00001 0.8824 Availability of spares
VAR 00002 0.7715 Easy reparability
VAR 00003 0.7849 Mechanics reputation
VAR 00004 0.6450 Brand's reputation
VAR 00005 0.7056 Engine
VAR 00006 0.6084 Dealer's reputation
VAR 00007 0.6910 Look of the tractor
VAR 00008 0.5243 References by friends
VAR 00009 0.4811 Performance with regard to agricultural operations
VAR 00010 0.6351 Braking system
VAR 00011 0.6230 promotional offers
VAR 00012 0.7737 Horse power
VAR 00013 0.6624 Resale value
VAR 00014 0.5581 Cost of spares
VAR 00015 0.6761 Loan availability
VAR 00016 0.6857 Service backing
VAR 00017 0.7235 Mileage
VAR 00018 0.2480 Enhanced features.

2.2 Variables and their factor loading's

Variable Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 Communality
VAR 00001 -0.0466 0.9070 -0.0338 0.2130 0.1050 0.8824
VAR 00002 0.0980 0.8500 0.0328 -0.0189 0.1950 0.7715
VAR 00003 0.1040 0.1890 -0.0494 0.1880 0.8370 0.7849
VAR 00004 0.1670 -0.0200 -0.0775 0.7380 0.2570 0.6450
VAR 00005 0.6030 0.5550 0.0672 -0.0471 -0.1650 0.7056
VAR 00006 0.0549 0.2050 0.1650 0.7310 0.0416 0.6084
VAR 00007 0.6950 0.2650 0.1100 -0.1270 0.3310 0.6910
VAR 00008 -0.0837 0.3570 0.2390 0.2770 0.5060 0.5243
VAR 00009 0.4750 -0.1480 0.1830 -0.0343 0.4460 0.4811
VAR 00010 0.7040 0.0045 0.2560 0.1650 0.2160 0.6351
VAR 00011 -0.0661 -0.0036 0.5860 0.5240 0.0249 0.6230
VAR 00012 0.7970 -0.0784 0.0817 0.2690 -0.2310 0.7737
VAR 00013 0.1740 0.1250 0.7750 0.0161 0.1250 0.6624
VAR 00014 0.2680 -0.0282 0.6680 -0.1970 0.0216 0.5581
VAR 00015 0.0856 -0.0443 0.7270 0.3710 -0.0247 0.6761
VAR 00016 0.4340 0.6400 0.2560 0.1160 0.0935 0.6857
VAR 00017 0.5020 -0.4320 -0.2190 0.2730 0.4030 0.7235
VAR 00018 0.3480 -0.0615 0.0512 0.1600 :0.3080 0.2480
Eigen Value 2.9388 2.7754 2.2522 1.9207 1.7924

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 Factors Influencing the Purchase of Agricultural Tractors: An Empirical Study

Factor grouping and their description

Factor 1 - Product
V5 Engine
V7 Look of the tractor
V9 Performance with regard to agricultural operations
V10 Braking system
V12 Horse power
V17 Mileage
V18 Enhanced features

Factor 2 - Spares and Service

V1 Availability of Spares
V2 Easy reparability
V16 Service backing

Factor 3 - Economy
V 11 Promotional offers
V 13 Resale value
V 14 Cost of Spares
V 15 Loan availability

Factor 4 - Reputation
V4 Brand‟s reputation
V6 Dealer‟s reputation

Factor 5 - Reference group influence

V3 Mechanic‟s advice
V8 References by friends

Hence the above mentioned factors are the most influencing factors which make the consumer to prefer
buying a tractor

Friedman Test
Friedman test is used for identifying whether there is any significant difference in the ranks given by
respondents about various factors considered for buying tractor.
Ho: There exists no significant difference in the ranks given for various factors considered for buying tractors

Table 3
Factors considered for buying tractor Mean Rank Assignrd value
Price 4.83 5
Subsidy 1.19 1
Brand Name 5.55 7
Horse Power 3.52 3
Maintenance 5.18 6
After sales service 4.68 4
Sources consulted before buying tractor 2
3.04
N 90
Chi-Square 277.542
df
6
Asymp. Sig. P Value
.000
P <0 .05 Significant
Reject Ho
Source: Primary Data

Inference It is found from the above table as per the ranking given by the respondents subsidy is ranked
first and followed by sources consulted, horse power, after sales service, price and brand name respectively.
According to the Friedman test results, the respondents ranking with regard to the factors considered for
purchase of tractors are significantly different at 5 percent level of significance.

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 Factors Influencing the Purchase of Agricultural Tractors: An Empirical Study

XVIII. Findings From Factor Analysis:

Factor analysis was used to find out the most influencing factors considered by the respondents while
making the purchase decision of tractor. The researcher has grouped the factors into various heading as
mentioned below.
 Factor 1
Factor 1 is titled on "product" consisting of variables like engine, look of the tractor,
performance with regard to agricultural operation, Braking system, horse power, mileage and enhanced
features.
 Factor 2
Factor is clubbed under the title "spare and services" which includes availability of spares,
easy reparability and service backing.
 Factor 3
Factor 3 is titled an “Economy” and consists of promotional offers, resale value, cost of
spares, loan availability.
 Factor 4
Factor 4 consists of brand‟s reputation and dealer reputation and it has been titled as
"Reputation".
 Factor 5
Factor 5 is titled as reference group influence and consists of variables like mechanics advice
and references by friends.
Hence these are the factors considered mainly by the consumers while making purchase of Agricultural
Tractors in sivaganga district.

XIX. Findings From Friedman Test:

 It is found as per the ranking given by the respondents subsidy is ranked first and followed by sources
consulted, horse power, after sales service, price and brand name respectively are considered for
purchase of tractors. According to the Friedman test results, the respondents ranking with regard to the
factors considered for purchase of tractors are significantly different at 5 percent level of significance.

XX. Conclusion
The research work has given lot of inputs to the researcher with regard to consumer behaviour and the
various factors which influence their purchase decision. The researcher has tried his level best to describe the
facts that are prevailing in the market. The research output may help the manufacturer, and dealers of tractors an
insight about the consumer‟s perception and it will further help them in promoting their product in a more
effective way.

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